Defining blue carbon: The emergence of a climate context for coastal carbon dynamics

Blue Carbon Ecosystems (BCEs) are defined as coastal wetland ecosystems with manageable and atmospherically significant carbon stocks and fluxes.

Policy and management opportunities have promoted the emergence of blue carbon as a concept and spurred scientific interest to reduce uncertainties in coastal carbon budgets.

The four major BCEs are generally classified by their plant communities: tidal marshes, tidal freshwater forests, mangroves, and seagrass meadows.